By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

Home-standing Hancock held strong atop the Region 4-6A girls’ standings with a hard-fought 53-40 win over West Harrison Friday night.
But suddenly, as the league schedule hit the halfway mark, upstart Pascagoula stands all alone in the second spot as the six squads get prepared for the stretch run over the next three weeks.

In the Kiln on Friday night, the Lady Hawks moved to a perfect 5-0 in the region race and an impressive 19-1 overall with the win over the scrappy Lady ‘Canes.
West Harrison used seven points from Sydnei Barber to take a 17-15 advantage after the opening period. However, Hancock bounced back to outscore the Lady ‘Canes 31-16 over the next two periods to take control of the contest.
Riley Bishop had 10 points in the all-important second stanza for Hancock, as the Lady Hawks overcame that small two-point deficit to take a 30-25 lead into halftime. Recent William Carey signee Brooklyn Cuevas then tallied eight points in the third frame, matching the total by WHHS in that span, and Hancock continued to expand its lead and led 46-33 heading into the final quarter.
Cuevas, in fact, kept Hancock close in the first quarter as she put in 10 points in the period on a trio of 3-pointers and a free throw. She led the Lady Hawks with 22 points, including four treys, and Talina Bond chipped in 14 points to the winning cause while Bishop added 13 points. Cuevas, Bishop and Bond all drained 3-pointers in the third period when Hancock took control of the contest.
Barber posted 17 points for West Harrison, and Jaylen Applewhite added 10 points for WHHS as the Lady ‘Canes dropped to 2-3 in the region race and 7-10 overall.

In Pascagoula Friday night, the home-standing Lady Panthers picked up their fourth league win of the season with the only loss coming to Hancock with a 61-36 thumping of Picayune.
The win moved Pascagoula to 4-1 in the region under the direction of first-year head coach Lakia Westerfield and 8-7 overall.

“Super proud of the way we played,” Westerfield said. “We’ve been working hard to get better every game and it showed. ’m just happy for my girls, they’re learning to play hard and play together and I love it. We’ are slowly changing the culture for the girls program here at PHS.”
The Lady Panthers got 10 points from Peyton Harmon in the first half, including eight in the second quarter, as Pascagoula took a quick 15-5 lead after the first frame and then proceeded to pull out to a commanding 35-15 lead at halftime.
Harmon paced Pascagoula with a game-high 14 points, while Khaliyah Moore chipped in 13 points and Kailyn Hyde added 12 points to the winning effort. Samaha Johnson had eight pnts.
Laikyn Moore scored 11 points to top the Lady Tide, which dropped to 1-4 in the league and 8-14 overall.

Also, on Friday night, Long Beach made it a clean sweep for the home teams in Region 4-6A as the Lady Bearcats overcame a double-digit halftime lead to pull out a 51-45 league win over visiting George County.
The Lady Bearcats moved to 2-3 in the region race while keeping the Lady Rebels win-less at 0-5.
Long Beach got a game-high 19 points from Peyton Langley in the win, while Shania Hope chipped in 17 points as Long Beach moved to 8-10 overall.
George County got 18 points from Dakari McNair and nine points apiece from both Delanie McNair and Mikayla Jordan in the loss as it dropped to 8-12 overall.